Statistics from the website Pollstar show how awesomely cheap tickets are in the Pop/Rock genre – especially the pop punk bands I’ve selected. Browse through that site and check out some of your favorite bands to see where they fall.

I think the most I’ve ever paid for a ticket to a show is $50 for Warped Tour. And that’s a full day, more than a three hour concert, with the possibility to see a ton of bands. I usually knock out at least six each summer I go. So the price is well worth it, and it’s still half the price of a Beyoncé concert.

The only other time I’ve had to shell out a little bit more for a show is for a VIP package which comes with exclusive merch and privileges along with the ticket. Always well worth it. Whereas some fans dole out $100+ just to sit in the nosebleed seats of a Taylor Swift concert.

“Ticket prices are high because people are willing to pay that much for a big show, and if they were not we would not get such elaborate shows in the first place,” according to an Arts Journal article. So hey, I guess I’m just happy that the bands I like aren’t as in demand. They still sell out larger venues – maybe not arenas – but decently-sized places.

As a lover and maybe even a self-admitted addict of live music, the amount of money I’ve paid for the amount of shows I’ve been able to see in the past few years has been awesome. I saw my favorite band, The Wonder Years, for three nights in a row (super close to the stage too) for just $50.

I can’t even imagine how much it would cost to be front row for three nights of One Direction. Let alone how much it would cost to meet them.

Moreover, the experience of seeing a band live is such an integral part of being a fan – to me. It saddens me to know that there are bands and artists that mean just as much to other people as my bands do to me, and yet they’re much more financially unattainable.

Maybe it’s the scene itself that adds to that. The catharsis of going to a pop punk show. As much as I love “Drunk in Love” – I don’t think seeing it live would emotionally affect me the same way “I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral” has. There isn’t the same emotional connection (I may be wrong though) with the more commercial, and thus, more expensive pop music.

And according to an article from Consequence of Sound, Queen B doesn’t even crack the top 15. So if you’re a fan of any of these bands either start saving now, or start listening to some cheaper artists. I can’t imagine the financial misery the fans of these bands must experience.

This is a super exciting opportunity for Modern Baseball. This just goes to show the amount of attention they’ve been getting lately had paid off in being invited to tour with a bigger band like Say Anything. I still haven’t decided if their sounds are really that similar, but it’s still awesome to see the two together on tour.

I actually wrote a blog post about this with some more details about the history of the band’s lineup. It’s super sad to see Spencer go, but at this point it was pretty much expected and accepted by the fans. Still weird to see Urie be the only original member left.

There was some fan speculation that this was the case in my last link post, but now we’ve officially gotten it confirmed that Four Year Strong is going to be putting out a new record this year. I’m counting down the days until June 2.

I like this a lot better than the other single they released a little while ago, “Fairly Local.” But with twenty one pilots, you never know if one song is going to sound like the rest. So I’m getting more and more excited to hear the rest of their album.

TSSF have been killing it with the singles they’ve been releasing from their upcoming album. I absolutely love “Nerve” and “Solo.” Almost a month away from this release, and – sorry to sound like a broken record – I can’t wait.

As of this morning, the pop punk band Panic! at the Disco announced that their drummer, Spencer Smith, who had been taking a leave of absence already, will be leaving the band permanently. The announcement was issued in the form of a letter from Smith himself, citing all of the great memories and experiences he had through his long time with the band.

Well today, that “for a while” just became “forever.” “This was not an easy decision to come to, but after a lot of thinking it became clear that this is what’s right for me and the band,” Smith wrote.

If you’ve been a huge fan since the start like me, Smith’s letter is worth a read (and probably will result in a few tears.)

This leaves Urie as the only original band member – the original line-up being Urie, Ross, Walker and Smith. Urie wasn’t even supposed to be in the band in the first place. Part of the reason Ross and Walker left was Urie had started to overshadow Ross as a vocalist.

Is it even the same band anymore? Their sound definitely changed immensely between Pretty. Odd. (the last album with Ross and Walker on it) and Vices & Virtues (which saw the addition of bassist Dallon Weekes, who eventually became a permanent member). Which makes sense, given the tension that had built between the two halves of the band.

It’ll be interesting to see what Urie and Weekes produce going forward, if anything.

More Warped Tour bands!!! As the summer gets closer and closer, more (relevant) bands are announced and it gets more exciting. I feel like the lineup always starts with a big headliner or two, along with a bunch of smaller bands. And then as it approaches they start to release the more middle-tier bands.

I LOVE THIS BAND. All of their previous albums have been awesome – including their most recent EP, Go Down in History.As I tweeted, they can do no wrong. I’ve loved every song they’ve put out and their albums just have hard-hitting song after song.

TWY is currently working on recording their fifth official (so to speak) album. I feel like they just came out with The Greatest Generation, but this made me realize that it’s been almost two years – the album was released in May of 2013. Maybe it hasn’t even sunk in yet for me that’s it’s 2015.

I remember when it came out, I remember listening to it in my dad’s car. I remember listening to it while on a family vacation abroad. It was the only album I had downloaded to my phone and since I was out of the country I couldn’t get anything else. So I just listened to it over and over again and fell in love.

I’ve gone to Warped Tour the past three summers. It’s an awesome, fun day and I always get weird tan lines. While some may see it as immature or teenage (hey, I’m still 19) – it’s an insanely good deal.

The amount of bands I can say I’ve seen because of Warped Tour is huge. I usually see between 6-8 each year. And they don’t have to be bands you love that you’d buy tickets to individually (aka NeverShoutNever). The Wonder Years are playing again this year which I’m stoked for.

Photo taken by me when I saw twenty one pilots in Brooklyn on September 7, 2013.

While not quite really a pop punk band, I’d like to dedicate this post to talking about the band twenty one pilots.

They’re associated with a lot of bands in the genre and my interest in pop punk is how I found out about them. They opened for Fall Out Boy along with Panic! at the Disco when I saw them back in 2013. (And I actually wasn’t that into them then.)

So I’m not a huge fan of the single. But I’m still super excited for the album because they’re a band that does not have a homogenous sound. This song may be completely different from the rest of the songs.

I guess what I like about the band isn’t necessarily a set genre of music or an expected type of song throughout an entire album. I like what they do and the passion they put into it and that shows in their music, no matter what it sounds like.

Here are a couple of helpful tumblr posts if you’re still trying to figure out what genre they are.

Established in 2007, Bandcamp allows musicians to share their music and possibly generate revenue, of which Bandcamp takes a percentage.

My impression of Bandcamp is I remember all of the really indie kids in my high school would post their music on there, they still do. It’s an easy way to promote music and give people an easy way to listen to it (for free) or download it if they’d like.

As of now, the site has paid out over $100 million to artists. I was pretty astounded by this. I’d heard of it, but I didn’t think it was really benefiting artists this greatly. I thought some lower tier bands were maybe getting thrown a couple of bucks for some demos and that was it.

But then I remembered that Modern Baseball, which is a pretty major band in the pop punk scene (even though they’re not quite pop punk, just associated with a lot of pop punk bands), has a Bandcamp page. It’s the first thing that comes up when you search their name.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with my dad about whether or not bands we liked could live comfortably. I’ve spent time trying to figure this out from Tweets and Instagram posts. (Does their apartment look nice?) Or when Soupy from TWY posted about having to live in Richie’s basement to pursue his career, I was a little surprised.

For the bands I care about I always make sure that I pay for their product because I know that it’s going to their livelihoods. Music, especially the less commercial scene, is hard to break into and it’s sweet to see sites like this lending a hand.

Gotten home from an amazing concert after counting down to it for months? You might find yourself with a rather empty feeling along with the ringing in your ears. Here are six articles to help you get over that post concert depression.

“It should be noted that multiple concerts in a short period of time can increase the impending outbreak of PCDS exponentially, so care should be taken when attending concerts close together with large breaks in between.” I absolutely fell victim to this caveat of PCD when I attended The Wonder Years 10 Year Anniversary shows three nights in a row.

Here’s someone else’s take with more tips on how to get over the end of the best night of your life. My weapon of choice is saving up to buy more tickets and have another concert to look forward to. I always like having a concert in my line-up that I can start getting excited for when another one has just ended. Maybe it’s an addiction, but I don’t care.

If you live close to where I do, you’re probably aware that the weather has not been so great lately. So today, as I blog from my cozy bed, I give you a playlist of some cool pop punk songs that revolve around this theme just generally dismal weather.

There’s songs about bad weather…

1 – Runnin’ Scared // Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties

This song is the point in the concept album We Don’t Have Each Other where the main character is driving south to Georgia. Lots of lyrics about the cold weather and sleeping in the back of his freezing car.

Lyric: I keep thinking / That I’ll feel better when it’s warmer across state lines. / Now I’m scraping ice off of the windshield with a piece of broken taillight.

2 – Hoodie Weather // The Wonder Years

Let the title speak for itself – although I think it’s a little more than hoodie weather right now.

Lyric: It smells like it should be snowing / And I’ve been frequenting a diner on Main Street

Anchor Down – Real Friends

3 – Anchor Down // Real Friends

Actually making me feel pretty thankful that I don’t live in Chicago. My 37 degrees right now is balmy compared to their feels like 9.

Lyric: I don’t really think / That I’m ready / For another Chicago winter / So you can stop making my bones feel cold

4 – Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy // Fall Out Boy

5 – Ice Box (Omarian cover) // There for Tomorrow

This is what comes up when you Google “ice” and “pop punk.” It’s kinda hilarious because I remember what the original song sounds like, but they do a good job turning it into a pop punk cover.

Lyric: I got this icebox where my heart used to be / I’m so cold

Icy lyrics…

6 – Seventy Times 7 // Brand New + Taking Back Sunday // There’s No ‘I’ In Team

Both songs share the same lyric which apparently was taken from an actual phone call between the two lead singers. “And is that what you call tact? / You’re as subtle as a brick in the small of my back. / So let’s end this call, and end this conversation.”

There’s also a nice ice lyric in Seventy Times 7: Have another drink and drive yourself home. / I hope there’s ice on all the roads.

And what I wish we had right now.

7 – Wasting Time (Eternal Summer) // Four Year Strong

I’ve also added some songs to the end of the playlist that I’ve gotten via recommendations from Reddit. Comment here if you have any suggestions – I’ll be updating the playlist throughout the day. Happy listening and stay warm!